Cost sharing is the portion of project expenses related to a sponsored agreement that is contributed by parties other than the sponsor and not directly charged to the sponsored project account(s). This may include equipment grants, construction projects, or Interagency Personnel Agreements.
Cost sharing may be required by the sponsor as a condition of receiving an award ("mandatory cost sharing") or offered by the Principal Investigator by including it in the sponsored proposal document ("voluntary committed cost sharing").
Cost sharing must be proposed, approved, administered, and accounted for in a consistent and prudent manner. This includes understanding workload implications of the cost-sharing commitment; determining when cost sharing is appropriate; and accurately recording and reporting cost-sharing expenses.
Direct Costs are costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity or that can be directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy.
Indirect charges are simply costs that cannot practically, or in a cost-effective manner, be directly tied to a single project. Examples of these types of cost includes: utilities, office supplies, general office equipment, telephones, and administrative support. Administrative support includes salaries and benefits for departmental, college and university personnel involved in the central operation of the institution.
All proposals, whether we are the subaward or the lead, will be routed through Radford University. For internal administrative and routing proposes, the faculty member at Radford will be designated as the Principal Investigator for Radford University. When Radford University is the subaward, we will also submit and review our portion of the proposal with the lead institution.
At the time SPGM creates your budget, you will designate the subcontracts. Each subcontract will supply a separate institutional approved itemized budget, scope of work, letter of commitment, and any other documents necessary to fulfill the requirements of the proposal. When the budget is prepared, Radford University’s indirect cost will be assessed on the first $25,000 of each subcontract. Please remember when working with other subcontracts, you need to factor in time for them to process their paperwork through their institution. We are happy to assist you by working with the subcontract's sponsored programs representative to help facilitate this process.
First, you will need to review the agency guidelines governing the grant. Second, please notify SPGM that you wish to transfer your grant. Your previous institution will prepare a relinquishing statement to send to the sponsored agency. Please obtain a copy of the relinquishing statement and send it to our office. We will internal route your proposal with a copy of the budget and a narrative of your proposal. SPGM will also complete any necessary forms required by the agency. Should your project involve an issue of compliance, you will need to secure approval from Radford University’s Research Compliance Office.
For federally sponsored projects, Radford University must adhere to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 2 CRF 220 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Therefore, the salaries of administrative and clerical staff, office supplies, postage, local telephone costs, and memberships should normally be treated as indirect costs. Direct charging of administrative may be included under special circumstances. Please contact SPGM to discuss your budget.
Sponsors determine who owns the title to equipment purchased on a grant. Normally, Radford University retains the title to most federally sponsored research equipment and we always try to negotiate title for the equipment. However, some sponsors wish to retain the title to the equipment. Therefore, the equipment is considered on loan to Radford University.
The definition of off-campus is dependent upon how the work is to be charged rather than where the work is to be done. Our negotiated rate agreement defines off-campus:
For all activities performed in facilities not owned by the institution and to which rent is directly allocated to the project(s) the off-campus rate will apply. Grants or contracts will not be subject to more than one F&A cost rate. If more than 50% of a project is performed off-campus, the off-campus rate will apply to the entire project.
The authorized representative of the University must review and accept all project awards. As principal investigator, you cannot sign the agreement because you do not have the contractually authority to bind the university. Therefore, all agreements should be forward to SPGM either via email, mail, or in person. We will coordinate the review of the agreement to ensure it complies with policies and regulations of the State and University, as well as obtain the proper signatures.